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the plan. When the cabinet approved it, two right-wing parties walked out of the government
coalition. After Sharon proposed a coalition deal with Labor to preserve his parliamentary
majority, 58 percent of Likud members rejected this idea at their August 18, 2005, conference.
These experiences shaped Sharon's later decision to set up a separate political party.
Sharon's plan was, however, popular among the general public. A June 2004 poll found
that 68 percent of the population supported unilateral withdrawal. On the Palestinian side, an
opinion poll that same month found that 34 percent of Palestinians welcomed the disengage-
ment plan, whereas 65 percent opposed it. Further, 59 percent of Palestinians said that they
would support attacks against civilians in Israel even after disengagement. On October 25,
2004, the Knesset approved the disengagement plan by a large margin. Another law was passed
to compensate settlers who were displaced.
Sharon's coalition was further weakened by the departure of the anticlerical Shinui Party in
December. Although the party supported disengagement, it objected to the budget allocations
to the Haredim and voted against the bill. Sharon fi red Shinui ministers from his cabinet and
turned to Labor, which entered the coalition in January 2005.
On November 11, 2004, Arafat died. Toward the end of his life, both the international com-
munity and Palestinians had increasingly criticized him for corruption. Many saw his death
as a chance for a new direction in Israel-Palestinian relations. Although Arafat had never ap-
pointed a successor, Mahmoud Abbas won the elections to lead the PA on January 9, 2005, and
power was smoothly transferred. After Abbas took offi ce, a new sense of optimism emerged.
Israel released 500 Palestinian prisoners on February 21, 2005, as part of a confi dence-building
measure to strengthen Abbas, and the PA tried to exercise greater control over its security
forces. In general, relations between the two sides seemed to be improving.
Part of the improvement included the fi rst productive high-level meeting between Pales-
tinians and Israelis since the Second Intifada had begun in September 2000. Held at Sharm
al-Shaykh on February 8, 2005, the meeting between Abbas and Sharon resulted in a joint
ceasefi re declaration and a call for a complete cessation of violence. After the meeting, Egypt
and Jordan sent their ambassadors, recalled after the outbreak of violence in 2000, back to
Israel. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad were not party to the ceasefi re declaration, but the overall
level of attacks declined.
The Intifada Quelled
The last obstacle to Sharon's disengagement plan fell when a bill to force a national referendum
prior to unilateral withdrawal was defeated on March 28, 2005. There was a campaign against
the plan, with protesters pleading that “Jews do not expel Jews” from their homes. On August 7,
before the cabinet vote authorizing the fi rst stage of the plan, Netanyahu, who was critical of
it, resigned as minister of fi nance. He censured the government for failing to obtain anything
in return for the withdrawal, claiming that it would damage the country's security. Sharon ap-
pointed Olmert to replace Netanyahu. Netanyahu announced that he would challenge Sharon
for leadership of the Likud Party.
Implementation of the plan began on August 15, 2005, with the closing of the Gaza Strip
to Israelis to prevent more protesters from arriving. For the next two days, Israeli residents
 
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